NORMAN, Okla. - The 17th-ranked University of Oklahoma volleyball team travels to Denton, Texas for the North Texas Invitational. OU opens against Cincinnati Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. CT. The Sooners close out the tournament Saturday against North Texas at 11 a.m. CT and Sam Houston State at 4:30 p.m. CT. Live stats for all matches is available at SoonerSports.com.

A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA AS A TEAMOklahoma is ranked 17th in the current American Volleyball Coaches Association poll ... OU was selected to finish second in the Big 12 Conference this year in a vote by the league's coaches the conference office ... The Sooners tied Iowa State with 53 points. Texas garnered 63 points to finish first ... Oklahoma collected its first win over a ranked opponent this season on Monday night against No. 15 Colorado State ... The three-set win marks the first time in program history the Sooners swept a top-15 non-conference opponent ... OU has swept top-15 teams twice in Big 12 play with wins against No. 12 Missouri in 2006 and No. 5 Nebraska in 1997 ... Oklahoma won the Nike Invitational this past weekend, downing SMU, Oral Roberts and Missouri State ... OU is seeking its first 5-0 start since 2009. The Sooners' longest win streak to open a season was 8-0 in 2004 ... Oklahoma returns 10 letterwinners from last season's 23-11 team that finished third in the Big 12 (13-7) ... The Sooners return five position starters and libero and have five newcomers.

Player to Watch: Tara Dunn

A native of the small town of Poth, Texas, Tara Dunn was a 2010-11 UnderArmour AVCA High School All-American and PrepVolleyball.com Senior Ace. She was named to the LoneStar Volleyball All-Texas team two years and earned a spot on the San Antonio Express News Super Team as a junior and senior. That's just a few of the honors for this highly skilled outside hitter, who is expected to contribute valuable minutes to the Sooners' lineup.

She played two years of club ball for the Bexar County 18 Asics in Schertz, Texas. Both of her parents played intercollegiately at Texas Lutheran University.

A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA INDIVIDUALLYSallie McLaurin was named most valuable player of the Nike Invitational. She led OU with a .418 hitting percentage ... Brianne Barker and María Fernanda earned all-tournament team honors ... Barker, McLaurin and Suzy Boulavsky were named to the preseason All-Big 12 team ... Carlee Roethlisberger joined the volleyball team this year after playing basketball the last four years ... Barker was a member of the USA Volleyball A2 Women's National Team this summer ... McLaurin was a member of the U.S. Women's Junior National Team ... Oklahoma head coach Santiago Restrepo was the head coach for the A2 Women's Junior National Team.

ABOUT THE SERIES HISTORYThis is the first series meeting between Oklahoma and Cincinnati ... Oklahoma leads the all-time series with North Texas, 16-11. OU has won nine of the last 10. The teams last met in 2006 ... OU leads the all-time series with Sam Houston State, 6-4. The two teams last met in 2006 in Denton.

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